Paytm garners Rs 300 crore in Diwali sales

Picture source: GettyThere were many takers for motorcycles and bicycles as mobile phones and fashion apparels topped sales during Paytm’s three-day pre-Diwali sale that ended November 5, generating up to Rs 300 crore and highlighting the Alibaba-backed company’s success in implementing the online-to-offline model.

The etailer-cum-mobile payments company sold over 500 Mahindra motorcycles and more than 1,000 bicycles in the new products category, where purchases were made online and bikes were delivered to customers from dealerships, an example of the online-to-offline model, said Saurabh Vashishtha, vice-president for business at Paytm.

Mobile phone sales increased 5-6 times over average daily order rates, while sales of fashion products also rose six times. The electronics category, as expected, registered most sales, helping the ecommerce site post fivefold increase in the number of orders and gross merchandise value (GMV) during the sale, compared with daily averages, said Vashishtha. GMV is a measure of the maximum price of goods and services sold on a company’s platform and is higher than its actual revenue.

While meeting its target of Rs 250-300 crore for the sale duration, peak traffic, including shopping and transactions, surged to 6-8 lakh concurrent users, which was 10-15 times the average peak traffic on the site. The company said it was on track to cross the Rs 1,000-crore target set for the twomonth period ending December.

Paytm had entered into an exclusive tie-up with Mahindra Two Wheelers to sell Mahindra Centuro motorcycles and Mahindra Gusto scooters through the site. Competitive prices on bikes and up to 25 per cent cashback on bicycles helped sales, Vashishtha said.

"It’s the classic O-to-O (onlineto-offline) model and we’ve found from this sale that valueadded services are beginning to become important, not just the price," said Vashishtha.

The online-to-offline model, while taking wing in the new product category, was also implemented in the mobile phone category, where a fifth of sales between November 3 and 5, were delivered by local stores within two hours. Paytm tied up with The Mobile Store, the country’s largest phone retail chain, to meet delivery timeframes. Paytm did not share the number of mobile phones sold but said the category made up 10 per cent of total sales during the three-day period.